22/4/14

I looked into how DMT is said to be a spiritual endeavour and that it's like a bright light. These descriptions create a lot of imagery for me so I wanted to try and put these thoughts into my sketchbook. I started with some imagery I had gathered from my research. I added my own idea to the images such as for one I placed yellow PVC over it to represent the idea of the bright light. I liked the effect this created because the PVC became creased adding texture and another interesting aesthetic. Developing this I liked the yellow light aspect and wanted to mix that in with how the DMT is released in the brain so I focused around the head and neck to portray this. Using my own imagery I had two cut outs of my own shoulders and neck which on one I layered the yellow PVC but gathered it around the neck area so it was ruffled over the face and chest. To portray the DMT being released from the brain into the body. The second one I used my yellow wool to act as if it was spurting out of the neck I also added in the purple and metallic wool to emphasise this. I appreciate how this represents how the DMT is released from the brain and into the body. 

Working with the wool then lead me onto my knit samples from last week. For the first one I had used the yellow and purple wool and had then worked in the purple organza which I first collaged off of them and then developed a couple of designs. I did the same for my second sample which used all three wools. For the collaging I used the scans of the knits I did last week, printed them out again and then collaged with the images of the knits. When I printed them out I made sure to enlarge them as this would show the knits in a different way because of the larger scale. As well as collaging with the knit images I used fabric as well. I find collaging very useful actually as the shapes are less defined an really free which always me more room to developing off of them because I feel that by designing through collaging my designs are less rigid and use a variety of shapes and fabrics. 

Furthermore carrying on with DMT developments after I finished knitting the samples I put the yellow one over my eyes to see if I could look through it and I could. I couldn't see very well as it was blurred and hazy yet I could make out some aspects. I then placed the sample over my camera lens and took some photos, I really love how these images have come out as the only thing you make out is the person in the image who was sitting opposite me at the time. I find this realisation I stumbled upon to be curious, as the colours were exciting to look at especially the way they blurred together. I think that this could make a good concept for a possible final photo shoot or even I could develop this into a print. 

To finish off the day I started making samples that I could use on the heat press. I didn't do these samples over the weekend as I decided to focus on finishing the work for my knit samples and the spiritual developments and save the knit samples for when I get come back to uni. 

For my samples I used a variety of fabrics which I mixed together in different ways, however this meant that I had a lot of samples. Also as all of my fabrics are synthetic I knew that they would mould or melt together, but I was excited to see what this would do the fabrics. Especially to the different samples as some fabrics were layered onto a fur or onto a latex so this would create very different samples. 

However when it came to using the heat press at uni I couldn't because I wasn't able to move it and it's current location mean that I couldn't use it. Although to over come this I decided to go home and use my own iron as long as I put it on the highest heat, and if this didn't work then tomorrow I would ask for a tutor to help me move it. When I got home I set my iron to the linen setting as this is as high as it could go. Also because I was using synthetic fabrics which are prone to melting, in order to protect the ironing board and the iron I placed a piece of card on the bottom and then used grease proof paper over the samples to protect the iron. 

The first sample was the yellow PVC and a matte cellophane on top of the purple crystal organza. This worked well as both PVC's melted onto the fabric. The yellow worked the best as it stuck to the bottom fabric and created a nice look as you can see the purple underneath fabric but it has a yellow hue to it. The cellophane did however melt and begin to burn as there are burn holes in it but it still looks interesting. 

The second sample was the purple fur and the purple latex on one side and then the white matte PVC on the other side. This sample didn't work as I learnt that it was too hot which meant as apposed to the PVC melting the the fur it's melted to the grease proof paper as well as the fur. I tried to peel it off the paper but it just resulted in the paper ripping around the melted area, I proceeded by trying the rip the PVC off of the fur this did work and it left the fur a different colour as instead of it being purple it had a mix of purple, pink and yellow. Unfortunately the latex didn't stick to either the fur or the paper so I gathered that it needs to a very high temperature for the latex as it is a thicker plastic. Also I learnt that trying to melt the latex produced a horrible smell, as I could smell the chemicals, which meant I had to open the windows to avoid my house from smelling and to stop myself getting headaches from the smell. 

Although this sample failed I was curious by the way the fur had changed colour so I cut some more samples from the fur and placed them under the iron. Depending on how long I left the fur under the heat determined what colour it would change to. When I left the iron on for a long time the fur turned fully yellow, and when leaving the iron on for a shorter time it went a pale pink which you could tell was close to turning yellow. 

Other samples included melting the organza to the metallic fabric, this worked well and looks interesting although possibly on the side of burning. Another sample that didn't quite work as well as I hoped fro the purple latex on top of the metallic jersey. For a long time this did not want to melt together so I eventually gave up realising that because both of these fabrics are thick they most likely are not going to melt under the heat I was applying. Also I can see where the latex bagan to burn as it has discoloured in the areas where the iron was the most. 

My last three samples probably worked the best and are also my favourite. They worked the best because they all use the matte PVC which I learnt from earlier has a low melting point. Therefore knowing this I put the iron on it's lowest heat setting. The first sample used the fibres from the organza sandwiched between the black latex and the matte PVC, I was really excited to do this one because when there is pressure applied to it the fibres in between shine and it makes for a very interesting aesthetic. This worked reasonably well it took quite a while for the matte to melt to the latex and I actually had to iron the back of the latex for this to happen. However looking at the final sample it looks very good mainly due to how the fibres shine through the matte. This also relates incredibly well to my dreams developments, and I look forward to working it in to my designing. 

I then created the same sample again however this time it was not against the black latex, this one was a lot quicker and easier to do, and although similar it looks good as a separate sample. When this sample is held up to the light the fibres shine purple and pink with a slight element of green, however when on a flat surface they shine a silver with a green hue. This sample makes for an incredibly interesting aesthetic as the different tones and shines make it more intriguing to look at and also touch. 

Finally the last sample is basically the same as the last one, however instead of using the fibres from the organza it uses the fibres from the metallic fabric. This is very interesting to look at but not as exciting as the previous sample which has many layers of interest with it. 

Overall todays been a very good day I believe I've been quite busy, although struggling at some points I was able to work past them well without giving up on my ideas, and I am also incredibly pleased with my heat press samples because I believe they are really interesting and exciting to look at and I look forward to designing with them in the future of this project. 

17/4/14

Today at uni I was a little unsure of what to do as I had planned to use the heat press because I wanted to create some samples. As all of my fabrics are synthetic I know they will melt easily so I wanted to create some samples that had many melted layers of fabric and also incorporate the melted fabric with some knit. But unfortunately I could not do these samples and as it's a bank holiday weekend I will have to wait until next Tuesday. Although I think I can create some of the samples at home with the iron but obviously this won't reach temperatures as high as the heat press, yet I'll give it a go I think it will be a lot of trial and error but this may help me to prepare for when I use the heat press next week. 

But today at uni I carried on with knit samples as I bought a new wool yesterday which is yellow. Although my colour choices for this project so far have included mainly greys/ silvers and purples I wanted to introduce a completely different colour. I chose yellow because a part of my early research focused on binary opposites and purple and yellow are complementary colours and therefore opposite one another on the colour wheel. Also I feel that yellow relates to the DMT aspect as it's bright and in my research experiencing DMT was like seeing a bright light, so I thought yellow would portray this well. 

I started knitting with the yellow wool and as it was thicker it created a different aesthetic to my other wools. I found the yellow wool also easier to knit with, I suppose this is from it being a plain wool compared to the other fancy yarns. Whilst knitting with the yellow I wanted to incorporate an additional aspect so I cut a long strip of the organza tied this to the yellow and began to knit with it. I really liked this aspect it made it so much more interesting than just producing a plain sample. This didn't take that long to produce either, compared to my other samples I think this is because I've been knitting everyday so I've got the hang of it and therefore can work faster. Being able to work faster I made another sample however this time combining all three wools so this sample consisted of my yellow purple and metallic yarn. I love how this sample came out I just feel it's really different to my other samples and it's not really something I've seen before such as on other garments or from similar samples. I also really like it because I feel it ties all the projects main areas together such as the DMT and reams aspect. It also has a really nice texture because it's soft especially from the three different wools.

So after creating these two samples I decided I would stop with the knitwear because I have 9 samples now which is a sufficient amount and I don't want to have a lot of knitwear in my sketchbook that will outweigh everything else, as I am a woman swear designer and not a textiles designer. Therefore even though I really enjoy textiles and surface decoration I would really like to move away from them and focus a bit more on designing.

Bearing this in mind I'm going to develop these knit samples into designs, particularly focussing on how they can be worn and how they can work with other fabrics. I have scanned them in, so I'm going to play around with them digitally and on paper I may do some collaging I haven't decided yet as I'm unsure on what would be best to do with them. Taking yesterday's advice from my tutor I want to make my work more engaging. So bearing this in mind tomorrow I hope to carry on with the Spiritual developments but making them interactive and hopefully combining 2D and 3D together. 

16/4/14

Today wasn't particularly productive in terms of producing work however I did find it helpful. In the morning I had a tutorial and as I hadn't had one for about 4 weeks I had a lot of work to show and I was really eager to get some constructive criticism. I got some good feedback but I didn't particularly find it that helpful as it was a bit vague, admittedly looking back on it I should've ask some questions so I could understand fully what my peers meant. Although I did ask to see my tutor individually. This was very helpful as I asked her what I needed to improve on especially to get a Distinction. Her feedback was incredibly helpful as I could understand things differently and she gave me some good tips. The main one I picked up on was to make my book a bit more interactive so when people look through it it's more interesting and engages whomever is looking through it. She also said to mix more 3D and 2D work together. 

So to achieve this I started looking back at my sketchbook work and seeing how I could make it more interactive. I had a few initial ideas but I want to spend more time on this instead of just rushing in and changing things which could end up looking bad and making my work worse. Therefore I just carried on with working on my knit samples. I've made 4 hand knitted samples all together. The first being just the purple wool, then the metallic wool, thirdly the mix between the two wools and the fourth one of the purple knit with the metallic wool acting as a stripe. I then made smaller versions of the 4 samples because I wanted to use them to collage with. I didn't make a smaller version of the sample I created on the machine as this only showed how I could intertwine different fabrics within the knit. So when I collaged I was aiming to create a quick design therefore I used the smaller knits as well as additional fabric. I feel these designs went well they were relatively quick and I combined a variety of fabrics with the knits which makes them look interesting and enables me to imagine how the knits would work on the body. Such as for one design I placed the metallic knit underneath the transparent PVC so it squashed the knit and made an interesting aesthetic as it looked textured yet was smooth to the touch due to the PVC.

This then lead me to the end of the day. I think today went well even though I didn't produce enough work, but talking to my peers and tutors it allowed me to understand my work better, such as making it more interactive. I think being able to understand how someone interprets your work is important because it helps me to identify what strong and weak points are in my work. This allows me to make sure that tomorrow I can progress further and hopefully produce a lot more work. 

15/4/14

Today going back into uni I mainly focused on knitting. However as I had created hand knitted samples yesterday today I wanted to use the knit machine. I remember using it in knitwear week and I enjoyed that week however my memory of how to use it was a little rusty, fortunately I had taken pictures during that week that showed me how the thread up the machine. Once this was done I started on a simpler wool, threading it up was straight forward and I didn't have to rely on the pictures. Once knitting, it worked well although getting stuck and catching in a few places every now and then, but I was able to make a practice sample easily. However towards the end of the sample I was having difficulties as the machine kept on getting stuck. I realised this was due to the wool being quite loose and would therefore fray a lot easier which is why it would clog up. With this in mind I wanted to make samples with the purple wool however this did not work at all because every time I tried to knit it would clog up and the machine would not work. I tried this several times checking that the machine was threaded up correctly and sometimes changing the settings such as the tension. Yet nothing worked so I decided to move on because this was taking up too much time and I didn't want to waste time on the samples. I didn't even try with the metallic yarn as I knew that if the purple wool had not worked then the metallic wool would defiantly not. 

Despite these difficulties and restraints I carried on as I still wanted to create some samples so I used a different wool from a friend, this wool was a lot tighter and stronger and worked on the machine perfectly. I had no issues with this wool. I remembered one technique from knit week which was the cable stitch this meant crossing over three stitches with another three, I did this several times so it almost looked like I had plaited the wool.
After this I began weaving in the purple wool I had previously been using this meant weaving it over and under the needles, this took a while but I really like what it looks like. As that worked so well I thought about weaving in fabrics, I wove in a variety of fabrics such as the metallic stretch, organzas, because the purple wool worked well I also tried the metallic wool but this did not work as well because it would catch in the machine. Learning this I just carried on with using the different fabrics, the transparent PVC worked well and so did the translucent PVC.

I really liked this one as it's texture is quite unique because you can feel and see the knit but then the matte texture from the fabric comes through. I also tried my other organza, however this one didn't work in the same way as the other fabrics which stayed together and didn't fray. Yet this one did fray so whenever I would knit the fibres would stick through the knit in a similar way to the metallic wool. I really liked how it did this because it is different to the other weaves particularly as the strands that stick through are of a two tone shine which makes it even more intriguing to look at. Although the difficulties with weaving that fabric is that I couldn't weave it the same way as the other weaves because it's width was larger making it harder to negotiate over and under the needles unlike the wool. Therefore to get past this instead of pulling down all of the needles and then weaving I would bring every other needle down, then place the organza over the top, then I would bring down the other needles one by one making sure that the organza would go underneath, leaving the organza woven over and under the needles. This took some time to do mainly because it was quite intricate but I feel that it was worth it. I did this several times and the overall effect of weaving in the organza was really interesting to look at. 

This was the last sample I made today and it took quite a while to do because of all the different fabrics and wools I was working with, but I enjoyed experimenting with them and discovering how I could manipulate them in order to make some interesting samples on the machine. I also enjoyed working on the machine once I had learnt how to use it properly and I think that if I were to use it for my final outcome I would be able to knit relatively quickly on it, although I would have to reconsider what wool I would use because my chosen wools did not work. 

14/4/14

Today mainly consisted of creating knit samples. I didn't know how to know until today as I taught my self, mainly through watching YouTube tutorials from one particular Youtuber Good Knit Kisses. 

I found these extremely helpful and straight forward. So after creating a few practice samples in order for me to get the hang of the craft I started using the wools that I had bought. I knew these yarns would be more difficult to work with as the first one was a lavender/purple yarn it has an interesting texture as its size varies, going from thin to thick then thin again and so on. The needles I used are 12mm so quite large which means there are larger gaps in between the weave. So the overall aesthetic of the sample was really interesting as well as having a unique texture due to the yarns varying size and large gaps. I like this look because it's different from the usual tight close knit. Although I do feel that due to the type of yarn  and the gaping it does look a little bit messy. But for now as a sample I'm pleased with it, as I can work on different ways of making it interesting such as placing fabrics behind it. Or even mixing it with a different yarn. Considering the idea of mixing different yarns I moved on to my second yarn as I wanted to see how easy it was to work with. This yarn is white with a metallic thread running through it that is frayed. It was quite difficult to work with due to the multiple strands however once I had the hang of it I actually found it easier to handle than the purple yarn. Also the overall aesthetic of this sample was much more pleasing as you couldn't see any gaps making it look a lot better. 

With both samples finished I decided to combine the two. I did this the same way I would knit with a single yarn however always making sure I looped over both yarns at the same time. I was expecting this to be difficult to work with but actually it was quite simple and once it was finished I felt it looked good because you could mainly see the metallic wool but there were elements of purple, which made it intriguing to look at due to the two different surfaces and colours. 

Making these three samples took me the majority of the day, I understand that the samples took me a lot longer than it should've done but as I only learnt today I think it's ok, but I do realise that I am working quite slowly yet I feel that my knitting skills are developing quickly and as I am learning I am able to knit quicker. Tomorrow I hope to develop the knits into possible initial ideas as I am beginning to imagine how the knits could be worn on the body. 

10/4/14

I feel that today has been a good day in terms of developing the project. Although this morning was slow in terms of progression. I wasn't able to start knitting today because I needed to buy some needles and unfortunately hadn't had a chance to do that yet. So at uni today I started with creating samples from an old top, where I plaited the sleeves I really liked the way this looked once finished however it didn't really relate to my work that much so isn't that helpful as it's a bit random. 

Progressing from this, the afternoon was a lot better as over the last few days I've felt a bit lost and unsure of my project as I feel that it has taken quite a drastic turn from my initial concept. However today after speaking to a tutor they gave me a few ideas of how I could push the distorting the body idea taken from the voyeurism vs fetishism part of the project. They suggested looking at the Comme des garçons lumps and bumps collection. S/S 97. I hadn't  seen this collection before but after looking at it I found it similar to the ideas I had been having and it helped me greatly in terms of developing the concept into a final outcome as well as allowing me to visualise what my idea could look like.

This lead me into working on the stand. For this workshop I needed to have shapes that I could pin together to make it a structural shape. Carrying on with the deformed body concept I took inspiration from one the images I drew over from Manabu Yamanaka. I liked the shape of the girls hunchback, therefore I cut out a semi circle shape. I cut out 8 small ones and 4 larger ones. I did different things with them such as I pinned two of the same size together just so I could get a rounded shape. For others I pinned one large and one small together giving me an uneven structure. The third I pinned two large and two small together along their curved edges this gave me a shape that had many dents due to the uneven surface. Then I pinned them to the manikin in a variety of ways and positions on the manikin. I enjoyed this workshop thoroughly because I was able to create these odd shapes on the body which distorted it and showed it in a completely different way. It also slowed me to work off of the body because usually in my work it is quite on the body so today I feel like I have pushed myself in terms of designing. 

Although whilst I was doing this workshop I was thinking about how I could translate these shapes from paper to fabric. I think if I wanted to reproduce these shapes with fabric it would have to be quite a thick fabric such as a heavy denim or linen. But then if I wanted to use thinner fabrics like a polyester or a silk I could interface it heavily to allow it to have more of a resistance so it would produce the structural shape. I think in the future I will explore which fabrics would work best for this type of structure. Although thinking about the other Yamanaka photograph of the elderly lady and how her skin sagged, if I were to produce the same shapes but in a thin fabric then it would make the fabric sag in a similar way to her skin which I think would make an interesting aesthetic. However unfortunately I did not have any fabric with me at university so I will complete this idea another day, possibly when I'm closer to designing. 

I really enjoyed today I believe it went very well, I always enjoy working on the stand and I think it's one of my stronger skills, so defiantly after today I will be sure to work on the stand again when I am close to designing. However I will not develop todays work any further until I have finished with the distortion of the mind idea. I think this will be best as I don't want to confuse my ideas or even work on both ideas simultaneously and therefore produce unsatisfactory work for both areas. Therefore tomorrow I hope to start with knitting and when I am ready to design I will make sure to include todays work. 

6/4/14

As my previous research I focussed on body image, leading me to distort the body I wanted to look into distorting the mind as this related to my earlier dreams research. I found inspiration for this idea when I was listening to the XXYYXX album and one of my favourite tracks on the album is called DMT. From my own knowledge I knew that DMT is a chemical that is released in our brain at birth and death and also when we are lucid dreaming.

I made this mini clip as an introduction to this element of my work. It features the song DMT as well as has trippy and hallucinogenic imagery that relate to the DMT experience. I chose to have this playing whilst placing tracing paper over it as this would distort the images and colours. This adds my own element of distortion and also links back to the haziness of dreams and brightness as it has the light shining through it. 

I began researching into DMT and found out how it is also an illegal substance because of the severe hallucinations it causes. This lead me onto YouTube where I knew if I searched for it I could fine some videos of people telling me their stories. I found this really interesting as it enabled me to understand what its like to experience DMT. The following is video I found the most helpful in how he described his experience with the drug.

I was able to pick up some key words that I felt would enable me to develop off of them. He mentions how the room had a strong energy in it and how objects would begin to disassemble. As well as how it is a spiritual experience. For this research I focussed on the words Spiritual, Disassembling, Euphoric and Energised. With these being the main focus I started portraying the words through my own photography and drawings that used fabric as well. I really like the idea that DMT is like an explosion of euphoria in the mind so I used bright fabrics with a shiny surface to represent this mainly focussing on what I imagine it to be like in the brain. Also because DMT causes powerful hallucinations I portrayed this by using a translucent and shiny fabric to cover and act as the eyes. 

So after developing ideas from how DMT is spiritual, energised and euphoric I began to represent the disassembling of it. For this I used the images from the body distortion work, first i cut out segments of the body leaving gaps in-between parts of the body such as there is a gap in-between the head and the neck. With there being gaps I used fabric to connect the gaps together in order to emphasise how the body had been taken apart, or disassembled. I then thought another way I could represent this would be by using wool to connect the missing gaps.I bought a purple wool and a silver metallic wool as these wools represent the euphoria and dreams part of my research. 

I believe that today has gone well as my work has taken an interesting turn, I am pleased with this because I have a few ideas and I know that my work is going in a good direction. So I'm happy that I'm not stuck on my research and that I'm able to progress. For tomorrow I am planning on developing the disassembling idea hopeful through knitting as I can carry on using the wools I used today.